Polaris - marimba solo

[Bulooka]

Please use a metronome. Please Play this song slower. Its not meant to be played this fast. Especially when you can't even play it at that fast of a tempo. Can't run before you walk brotha.

[DieNaSty4me]

-dynamics -control your tempo -shape phrases(dont stretch time to hit right notes), -SLOW DOWN!

[CanyonBassCaptain]

Too fast, no dynamics, not impressed.

[JahazielakaCurly]

OH MY GOD ITS FAST!!! slow dowon

[drumroommonkey]

i believe how you play is how you play and no one should change that. if that's how you believe it should be shaped go for it. audiences will love it, they don't know what the hell you're doing haha.

[hrmpk26]

Now I want to write a piece that includes an intercom lol

oh and people, youtube is for uploading sh1t, get over it. you're trying to make this guy improve, not get depressed, right?

[iLikeShrimpiesss]

you might be more accurate if you play this at the right tempo

[phantomregforlife]

way to beat the crap out of the marimba at the end

[zuzrwolrd]

3:10 what the hell??

what an idiots...

[2201136]

we high school students in brwonsville look up to you ---good job

[Mario12874]

You are very soulfull but why so much arm it just makes it look messy and all over the place

[JohnnyCowbell]

what are you guys talking about, this guy is an idiot, he freakin sucks !!!!! go play the flute !!

[punk979]

Lmao yeah!

[drumroommonkey]

@JohnnyCowbell now now, don't beat yourself up for not being as good as keiko abe...

[EfrainDrumer]

i don't mean to be rude, especially since I'm a high school student. But have you ever tried dynamics, and shaping musical phrases? there's various dynamic contrasts that are just missing. Measure 138(5:51) through 145(6:04) go from ff to ppp.. it sounds the same volume.. Your note accuracy is quite good, and so is your up tempo speed, but i believe music is more about shaping of phrases.

[Drumbreak1]

to me dynamics are more important than having a piece up to full tempo.

[Juanvialtea]

I think you should do slower the rolls. However you need more practice, but keep on playing! :)

Sorry about my english, i'm spanish :S

[rustedrootbeer]

the best part was the intercom... haha... it was like a laser beam... one dynamic, one intensity. Gotta be loosey goosey for these 20th century American pieces. Mark Ford definitely wanted this to groove, not be a collection of notes transfered from page to instrument.

[busakings]

Nice Video! I'll be subscribing to your channel and looking forward to further updates.

When you get a chance take a look at some of the video's i've uploaded. Some pretty insane motorcycle and ATV videos on there

[jdorsuhm]

dude... I love your enthusiasm, but I'll be honest. You completely destroyed this piece... you had little dynamic contrast whatsoever, there was a plethera of wrong notes, your roll speed was always too fast, your tempos were all over the place... however, as I said before, I love your enthusiasm and you just need to keep practicing. I wish you good luck on your future endeavors.

[musicIZlife914]

i wonder how much that grand marimba costs. like $10,000(?) i wish i had that kind of cash.

[SHdrummerguy08]

$11k from Steve Weiss

[StoryFromTheStars]

This is awesome. Great technique and stance. Then again I'd guess he's professional or close to it. It's an awesome piece too.

[lacrossedawg44]

...you're not serious are you...?

[juggalosk8er1026]

I might have to play this piece. haha, Damn that announcer lady in the middle of the piece!

[Bbrookz]

dude you totally rocked it, i'm impressed

[Iluvdancin100]

beautiful playing on this piece, just wonderful keep up the good work

[fortheloveofLDS]

Wow. You did an amazing job with this piece.

I envy your four-mallet skills. [wistful sigh]

[dargason1300]

beast, but lower your right hand. both hands have to be even for proper technique.

[vVcLuTcHVv]

God forbid Johnny Cowbell be told proper mallet technique by a high schooler.

[futrphantom]

20 bucks says that high schooler can play better than this tool. he has no dynamics at all. if he tried to play ransom, it would be freakin hilarious.

[djWarp6]

Do you have a vid of ransom? I'd love to see it. Or how about Motion Beyond? If you have any vids up please share with me Mr. Phantom.

[SnareKidJoel]

Technique shmechnique. If it sounds good it sounds good.

[frontensemble077]

Amen brother^^

[offbeatbare]

Not good enough...

The best possible sound can only be completely achieved through good technique.

[BRvibemaster]

you also have to consider that there are thousands of right techniques in percussion.

[SnareKidJoel]

Exactly, BRvibemaster. Technique is just the definition of a method that a percussionist found works well for him/her and might work well for other percussionists, too. So, offbeatbare, although mastering a technique that enables you to play everything you need to with accuracy and sound quality is very beneficial, there is no way you can say that a player needs to alter their technique because it is "bad." Whatever this marimbist (is that even a word?) is doing obviously works for him.

[offbeatbare]

I think you misunderstood me. I didn't say that this person has 'bad' technique or that there is only one approach that is acceptable - there are, of course, thousands of efficient techniques in the percussion world that work for different people.

But back to my original point, this person did not play this piece very well. I don't think it is quite so obvious that whatever technique they are using works for them.

[SnareKidJoel]

However, the performer is not an idiot: if you read some of his previous replies to viewers' comments, you'll see that he acknowledges all the criticisms he receives and understands that he played the piece too fast and note accuracy wasn't 100%.

[offbeatbare]

Joel, I don't think he is an idiot... This is a demanding piece and I think we can both agree nerves were probably responsible for most of the speed/accuracy issues.

[JohnnyCowbell]

thanks for all ya'lls comments ... keep on playing !

[freemind81390]

I agree on the speed thing, I've heard it played slower and it sounds better in my opinion, but it's not like I can do any better.

[SiolentH]

i love this piece. very interesting. this is what i want to be able to do after i get out of highschool! very good job =]

[percguykb]

I played this peice a couple of years ago. I love it, but it's pretty tough. I would say that you might want to look at keeping your right hand a little lower to the keyboard and not raise it so high, especially on accents and loud segments. That might help accuracy. I would also say that your rolls might be a little fast sometimes. If you vary the speeds a little bit, it will be very effective. But overall, great job. It's a really tough piece.

[rkotcher]

awesome job.

[SnowBunnyLion]

I agree whole heartedly with percussionzach. I really have never heard the piece, but people's comments seem MUCH to harsh to be constructive. From What I could tell he sounded fine. Even if he did play a couple of wrong notes, Who doesn't at one point or another. Great job JC! I wish I knew the piece to give a decent comment, but You sounded terrific! Much better than I would have at least lol!

[CaptainYutube]

Pretty good, just few missed notes....

Try to keep the volume of your rolls more consistent.

[morthondelf]

the fast notes need more clarity at that tempo. i like this song played fast, but it demands clarity- melody notes should stand out compared to bass notes (as has been mentioned), also found it interesting a FF segment was played MP

[JohnnyCowbell]

thank you ... these are good comments ...

[percussionzach]

well, i dont know this piece too well, but i was reading over some of the comments and wondering if people could be less arrogant and more constructive.

[JohnnyCowbell]

why thank you.

[wii4848]

if you can't play it slow, you definitely can't play it fast

[spinTAP1]

no dynamic contrast + poor quality= mediocre performance

[Snareasian]

i seriously could not agree with you more about this performance, but u forgot to add missed notes in the equation :P

[JohnnyCowbell]

i had to play it fast ppl !!!!!!!! , marimbas don't sing and yeah i did hit wrong notes, im pretty aware of that. im not freakin mark ford. anyways ... laters ! thanks for ya'lls coments.

[duhsmith]

Firstly a very good performance.  But... you should never feel like you need to play fast. Accuracy and musicality go much farther than speed. And marimbas do sing, you just have to listen closely

[goldmoose]

Marimba's do sing. You're ignorant. And no you may not be mark Ford, who should horse whip you for your idiocy, but you could have done better and should be more humble.

[shirtmanz]

Kudos on making it the whole way through, but go back, take your time, and play it all the way through, SLOWLY (it'll seem like forever, but trust me, it helps so much), and double check your accuracy in some places. Also, bring out mallet 2 during the 7/8. I like the beginning interpretation, one handed rolls are pretty good too. Good job.

[hhssnareguy]

Agree with you too. Good job though man.

[amaezm]

wow..thats waaaaaaay too fast. It really seems like you're attacking the instrument instead of letting it sing

[indestructiblebm]

questionable interpretation, and it appears to be a little to advanced for you. I've played this piece and know it's a little tricky. slow down, and work on not overplaying the notes that are not the melody. oh my goodness why are you playing this so fast that is not the beauty of music shazam.

[JoMaN135]

u played that really fast

[SaX85100]

I the process of studinging and critiquing this marvelous performance I've come to find that, eventhough I have continuouslly viewed the video, I come to the same conclusion that is very evident when, if you have made it this far give yourself a pat on the back......because.......I have not said a single thing.....Thank You

[SaX85100]

I need some more cowbell!!!!

[knightkeeper89]

PLEASE REPORT TO THE FRONT OFFICE lol. how old are you dude?

[JohnnyCowbell]

haha oh yeah, we went on tour and we went to this high school who refuses to turn off the intercom in the auditorium, so i hear.

[JohnnyCowbell]

joman ... you are a mean person.

[ShazamKazam]

Very nice. I'm working on this piece also. I actually liked it better at this faster tempo. But that's the beauty of music... creative liberties! Glad you had fun with it!

[nwkid10]

too many wrong notes for me...like everyone else said, chill out on the tempo, and try to be a bit more professional...

[90metalhead]

hey! that was at my school thats the guy from UTB they went to my school and played for us pretty good i loved the show

[RVLVNGDRS]

WHYYYY so fast????

[Marimbist11]

i have been working on this solo also, from what i can see in your video, the tempo is too fast, try getting ahold of a cd with this recording on it and become best friends with it, the more i listen to it, the more i understand the groove and the phrasing of the solo. try reviewing the ostinato rhythm at the allegro it sounded like your rhythm was off. This is an awesomely hard solo for anyone wanting to learn more about it or play it

[Yami3500]

it was pretty good, there was some note accuracy problems, and I think the one part that you can see on the other video is too fast...so if it was played a little slower, not only would u hit more notes, but it would sound cooler musically, but that is only my opinion. Good job though, I can tell this solo is hard, but looks really fun.